The Look In Your Eyes
by BlueStarfire
Summary: Zelda's going to Altea to meet her childhood friend there, Ike. It's been 4 years, and she's older, and that means that there are some feelings that she probably wouldn't have felt before. And has someone else caught her eye too?
1. Wayward Princess

**This is my (progressing) 2nd fanfic! :) Enjoy!**

**Wayward Princess**

-In the Council Room-

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"I-I looked into her r-room and found that she wasn't there, just some cloaks missing and her rose petals-"

"SILENCE!"

*A fist banged on the table*

"This doesn't seem too good-"

"OF COURSE IT ISN'T! As the head of the council, I want the princess found! Her pursuer may have some chance of finding her!"

"But we don't have any leads as to where-"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! GET A MOVE ON IT! EVERY SECOND YOU STAND THERE STARING IS A WASTED SECOND! GO, _GO_, **GO**!"

*the doors opened wide and the ten council members hurried to the stalls and in less than a minute, they rode out of Hyrule and made their way to one kingdom of the many kingdoms they were going to search for Princess Zelda."

-The Plains-

Ah, the cool breeze, the sun setting, and the welcomed silence of the plains. It was like any ordinary day, except, this time, I was traveling to Altea to meet an old friend there, Ike. It has been some time since I last saw him, 4 years in fact.

We were fourteen and were the best of friends, once the sun was up, I would wake up and scour the outskirts of town for Ike. And almost every day, I would train with him. And when I felt like it, instead of using a sword, I would duel him with my magic. At the end, I would find myself cornered by Ike with his word at a fatal angle. Then, he'd slack his tense arm, laugh, and we'd talk about our lives and our problems. In retrospect, I realized that he was the only person at the time that I could be honest with. I could tell him my problems and he somehow made me feel a lot better at the end. not having a father and mother made me lean more on him. He was like my brother I never had.

I smile at the memories we had together. It was good times like those that helped me throughout my days. But then…I vanished.

My face darkened. Now, I can't seem to remember in these past few years any feelings of happiness. I concentrated on the road ahead of me and sped up my horse.

_** /**_

Princess Zelda has had a certain person watching her every move. The person wrote a letter to the royal court, announcing that he will take Zelda as a hostage until the council grants him his wish: to be king and have Princess Zelda as his wife. And if he doesn't get Princess Zelda as his wife, Hyrule will suffer. The court panicked, if Zelda was in danger, so was Hyrule. So after that, they made a plan.

They made Zelda live in a kingdom for a year, then when a year passed, another kingdom, and another, etc. while the council stayed in Hyrule to attend things when Zelda was away. Then they made some extra rules.

To cover her even more, Zelda was only allowed to wear her formal clothes inside palaces, and when she wants to go outside, she must go to the backside of the palace. When entering a village, she must enter from an ally and she must be wearing a cloak. Zelda should veer away from the color black when it was daytime, as it would be too conspicuous. Instead, she has a wide variety of cloaks to choose from. Though, she picks blue almost every time, at night, she wears black.

The council never did tell Zelda the true reason she was moving kingdoms each year. They feared that she would not concentrate on her studies and would instead worry about everything. Instead, the council pretended that it was to strengthen the alliance between Hyrule and the country. At first, she was ok with it, but when she made close ties and was actually was starting to like it in that kingdom, a year passed and it was time to move again. Although Princess Zelda was unhappy, it made the court feel reassured because then the man will have to be on the move the whole time traveling across seas, getting dry information, and soon enough, they thought, he would go away and Zelda would come back to Hyrule and rule the kingdom in peace again. What they didn't count on was the Princess running away and the unknown man's persistence and determination to find her.

_** /**_

After a while Adelina got tired and so I stopped her and walked her to a nearby river in a forest. We weren't even near as what I wanted to be from Altea. But I don't want to tire Adelina so much that she'll pass out. I lay down on the grass as Adelina went to the river and drank from it. It was getting dark right now so we couldn't really go much farther. I looked at the stars and thought of seeing Ike again. With a smile I went to a deep sleep.

**Albeit it's short, I think I did a pretty decent job...**

**Ike: ...eh...**

**Me:...*evil glare***

**Anyways, please review and I'll be editing my other chapters that I have in store for this story.**

**:) Hope you liked it so far.**

**Ike: ...It has potential to-**

***I throw a pan straight to his face***

**Ike:...ugh...**

**Oh, and I'll be updating a lot because I already have 5 other chapters for this, so no major spans of days of waiting for the chapters.**

**Next up...**

**The Alley...**


	2. The Alley

The Alley

The first time I met Ike…

I remember that it was dark outside and I needed to get to the castle in Altea, and I was currently in its village. I was fourteen and at that time I was very mischievous and curious. So I knew some shortcuts in the village that led to the castle. I ran towards the alley that was the fastest route to the castle when all of a sudden a drunken man stopped me in my tracks.

"Hey there, beautiful. Do you want to come in with me?" I instantly backed away from him, and twisted my face away. The guy's breath reeked of alcohol. That's some strong stuff there…

"No. I have to go. Now, if you'll excuse me-" I went past him to no avail. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"Come on now, we can do something together." I immediately knew what this sick man wanted. Fear and anger ran through my body and in the corner of my eye I saw a figure. I struggled against the man's tight grasp.

"NO! Now let me go this instan-Aahhh!" Pain erupted from my wrist as the man twisted it. Tears streamed down my face at the burning pain. Through my blurry vision, I saw the man running towards us.

"Come with me and I promise not to hurt you." He snarled

"Looks like you already broke that promise!" said another voice.

Before the drunk man could turn his head to the new voice, my knee kicked his private part, and I got the reaction I wanted.

"AAAHHH! Why, you little-"

The drunk man didn't even finish his sentence, instead jaw met fist and the man that was running punched the guy in the face. Hard. He sprawled out on the cobblestone floor, and from the bar lighting, I looked at him, he seemed like he was in his 20's. I shuddered. How gross.

"You alright?" I whipped around, momentarily forgetting the guy that helped me. I looked at the figure, it was a boy, and it sounded concerned.

"Uh-"

"Wait, stupid question, come here."

Careful on not pulling me from my left injured wrist, he guided me to a streetlamp that illuminated everything. Curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see the person who helped me escape my doom. When I finally got to look at him clearly I was shocked at what I saw.

His hair….was blue! It didn't look dyed, and it looked really soft. His face was quite handsome, he also had the same color blue in his eyes and his thin lips were smiling… He also had a well-built body. Wait a second…let's not get that far. Then I remembered about my identity, but was immediately comforted by the fact that I chose to wear my black cloak that had a hood on it to cover my face. Goddesses I was grateful for that.

He seemed to be the one to break the silence though as he studied me carefully while saying. "Do I know you from somewhere?" His voice knocked me back into reality and I quickly looked down as he kept on looking at me. "You're not…? No, it couldn't be…."

Shoot…I forgot this was the first month I was here and Altea most likely had newspapers with my picture in it. I mentally cursed myself, I can't lie either. "…impossible"

"Not what?" I inquired. If it wasn't for the cloak, he would've recognized me as the princess, hopefully he won't pull it down.

"…Never mind, lemme see that wrist of yours…" Phew, he dismissed the whole idea of my identity…though he probably wasn't far off. I'm treading on thin ice here.

He grabbed my left arm, and made a move to touch my wrist with his hand, I winced.

He smirked "I didn't even touch it yet."

He looks handsome with that face of his. A new wave of pain erupted from my wrist and traveled deep in my body as my head felt dizzy.

"The pain is coming back…" I told him as I closed my eyes, fighting back the pulsing pain.

"Ok, ok, if it hurts that much, then lemme at least wrap it with….something..."

He let go of my arm, and I was confused at what he was doing until I heard the sound of cloth being ripped. He's ripping off his shirt? I quietly stood there as he held a long piece of his white shirt and took my left arm again.

"Talk to me so that way you can be distracted..."

He looked concentrated on my right wrist as he began wrapping it. I flinched as he started to make his first loop around my wrist.

"What's your name?"

"Ike...Ike Greil" He smiled at me. I smiled back at him, his smile made me smile. Although he couldn't see it, I blushed. He's really handsome…He looped my wrist with his shirt.

"How old are you?"

"14, you?"

"Same…"

"Shouldn't you be at home with your family? N-not that I'm ungraceful that you saved me, thank-you by the way, but aren't they worried about you?" His smile faltered.

"I my mother died while giving birth to me and my father who was in the war, died on his way to come see me." He looked at me.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't be prodding in your-"

"No, it's ok" he reassured me. He carefully looped the fabric again, taking great care that I won't feel any pain. How sweet…

I guess he decided that he also wanted to ask the same question to me.

"I'd imagine yours would be-"

"Dead." I interrupted.

His eyes seemed to lose their color and his face seemed sad.

Trying to change the mood of depression, I asked him another question.

"Where do you live?" I asked

"I learned to look out for myself and I'm currently working at a job to pay the rent at the place I'm living. And once I have enough money, I'll lead my own life. Adventures beyond Altea that I'll get to experience…that's the life I want to have." I felt spoiled. He had to work in order for him to have shelter while I just have to be pretty all the time. Apparently, he felt that he revealed too much about himself without any information from me and so he started asking me questions.

"How about you?" he asked me.

"Huh? What about me?"

Ike smiled, "Where do YOU live…you know, so that I can check on how your wrist is doing?" he questioned.

"You know, I live here…in the village, quite close by actually." My eyes looked to the far right without moving my head. My house is so close that it's looming right over our heads…oh yea, what's that thing called? A castle. Oh, and why do you live in a castle, stranger I've only just met? Oh, it's because I'm the princess and that's where I live. Geez, I hate myself.

He didn't seem to like that answer as he frowned, but nonetheless, he was almost done.

"What's your name?" Oh goddesses…I can't answer it with a question because I already know his…What will I do!

"Hey…uh? Are you alright?" Apparently not answering immediately was something that stopped him from wrapping the last loop.

"Y-yea." I mumbled. With that weak answer he finished tying up my wrist and put his hands by his side and sighed in satisfaction.

"Ok then, but you still haven't told me your name." I gulped, unladylike, but I don't care. What can I do? Then, the answer appeared in my head: run.

"Thank-you…Ike Greil." His face told me he was confused by my answer, and he opened his mouth to say something else. But I didn't let him start; I quickly turned around and headed for the castle, sprinting as fast as I can go.

"W-Wait!" But I didn't wait; I kept on running and left a confused Ike in my wake. He can't see where I'm going.

"At least give me your name!" yelled a devastated Ike,

But if I tell him my name, then he'll know that I'm a princess! Stupid princess royalty! It always ruins everything, why can't it NOT just back off and hook its title to someone else?

After a few fake turns, I heard that he was still following me by his footsteps. Darn it, even faster Zelda! He can't see you! I kept on running at full speed. After I didn't hear any more footsteps, I went to the castle and as soon as I touched my bed, my body collapsed in exhaustion.


	3. Truth

Truth

I woke up in a daze, last night's memories coming at me at full speed. IKE...

I looked to the left at my dresser and realized something…

"Oh, shoot!" I ran out of my rose petals for becoming Sheik! Not good…not if I wanna climb roofs….

I decided that I should go to the market to buy some more, after all, I would be frowned upon if I just tear apart the red roses in the gardens here anyways...besides, the market in this kingdom sells the most blood red roses ever, so that'll make me even more powerful when I transform into Sheik. Driven by pure excitement, I showered, did my chores, and picked out a simple white dress and a blue cloak with my hair flowing loose, and to not seem like that much of a princess, my cloak will cover most of me up and my dress had no intricate patterns...one flaw now, though...

I looked at my left wrist...that'll be hard to cover without someone noticing... Oh, well, I'll try not to expose it that much...and besides, I'm right handed, so no worries.

I went out the back door of the castle, put my hood on and quietly went into a dark ally in the village.

"Oh, I feel really woozy... I must've used lots of magic when running away from Ike….Huh, then he must be faster than I am if I could have still heard his footsteps..." shrugging the thought away I casually exited the alley and entered the full town central.

To tell the truth, people here have cloaks like I do, I mean, when winter is about to start, you'd start to wear cloaks in this kingdom, so about 75% of the people in the market are wearing cloaks, so I don't really stand out. Unfortunately for me, somebody was trying to find a needle in the haystack.

It didn't take long to find the stand that sells the rose petals, flowers basically was the stand; you couldn't see a patch of wood, only on the counter, where they did the business. I walked up to the lady that's in charge.

"Pardon me, may I have some of your red rose petals?"

"That'll be 70 Rupees." It seemed like the price rose by 25%, oh well, I had 80, so I'm fine.

"Alright, here." I gave the lady exact change.

"Ok, here you go, a nice box of red rose petals." she gave me a smile "Have a nice day."

"Same to you too." I replied with another smile.

I walked in a narrow alley with houses on the sides.

Well, my work here is done, now I just need to go back to the castle and-

A strong hand wrapped itself around my waist, and another one securely covered my mouth. The person must've been hiding in a door. I bit the hand.

"H-" I was about to shout for help, when somebody said

"It's me! Ike...remember?" my eyes went wide, I turned around, and surely, it was him. Shoot, RUN! I quickly turned on my heel, and tried to make a run from him. But, he was quicker than me because he grabbed my left wrist…. my injured one.

"AAH!" he quickly let go and I sat on the cobble stone floor, nursing my throbbing wrist.

"At least I know it is you, not some other random girl..." He murmured to himself.

I hissed "Aaahh...couldn't you have done it less painfully!"

"Sorry 'bout that." he smiled weakly at me, then the smile disappeared, as it was replaced with worry.

"Why'd you leave me in the middle of the street, running after you? I just wanted to ask you your name and where you live so hopefully I can take care of that injury..."

"I don't need to be taken care of!" I shouted at him, momentarily losing my cool

He winced, "Oh, uh-" I sighed

" I'm sorry, it's just that my life is complicated...I don't need to be commanded... don't need to be taken against my will..."

I sat up "Well, really need to be somewhere, pleasure talking to you." his eyebrows screwed up in a thought.

"Hmm..."

He studied me. My eyes went wide. Oops! I used pleasure! Stupid princess manners and conversation teachers!

"U-uh, gotta go-"

"Stay." I looked towards him, he began walking towards me.

"Can I see something...?" On instinct, I was on my guard.

"Depends on what you wanna see."

He sighed "If you won't tell me what your name is and where you live, at least lemme see your face."

I knew for a fact that if I take my hood off, he'll see me as the princess, but how will he cope with that? Make a show that he saved me? Request money? Or will he freak out, and never talk to me again?

"One condition..."

"What?" His eyes burned with curiosity.

"Promise me that you'll keep on talking to me, I've never had a friend like you." I said it with the most honesty that I had, I looked up at him, and nodded my head.

"Ok."

His right arm went up to pull down my hood. I blinked and put on a poker face as he touched the top of my hood, and swiftly pulled it down. His eyes went wide, shock registered on his face.

"My name is Zelda I couldn't tell you sooner, because I am unable to tell lies."

His mouth closed and opened, he was trying to speak.

I sighed, I should leave before more people come here.

I passed Ike and was about to put up my hood when...

"Don't go."

I warily went back towards him.

"I bet you were thinking that I was going to tell everyone about you, or getting money from helping you last night, but I don't want that I-"

"Can you just pretend that I am just like you, except that I don't live in a castle-?"

"Sure, love to." he smirked at me

"Do you want some money-?"

"I don't take charities Zelda, I can take care of myself… hmmm..."

I looked at him curiously "Yes?"

"You need a better disguise..." he looked at me up and down.

I blushed " How about this?"

I took out the rose petals, and held a few in my hand, I murmured some old Hylian, then the rose petals danced across my body, and I twirled with it. By the end of my twirling, I stopped and looked at Ike's reaction. How he looked! Like if I had just turned into a monster with two heads.

"Staring IS rude you know?" he looked at me even more, and you could see in his eyes that he was alarmed.

"What the-? Your voice, Zelda! Even that changed!"

Ike did a 360 on me. He concentrated on any flaw in my magic. His face looked amazed.

"You're completely tan! Why are you wrapped in bandages? Is that like your clothes or something?"

"Uh-"

"And your eyes! They are completely red!"

"My name is Sheik in this form..."

"Hmm, but people will still see you as weird, how about something more in the now?"

"Like what exactly? I sat crisscross on the floor, and closed my mind to all of my surroundings, excluding the sound of Ike's voice. Ike seemed to get my concentration mood, so he talked slowly and low.

"Your hair should be black. Eyes, preferably dark, dark brown. Um...regular shaped body..."

I smiled, he got uncomfortable on that.

"...like a normal person, a regular dress like you wore before and shoes, skin would not be that tan but tan still..."

Rose petals danced around me yet again, and I transformed into this new person. Red had to go somewhere, as they were red rose petals…there! Highlights in my hair won't be THAT strange. I stopped twirling, and looked at Ike.

Ike's eyebrows shot up. "Never cease to amaze me, Z-"

"How about in this form, I'm called ….Elocin?"

"Ok then, Elocin…yeah, good thing to change your name, there's only one Zelda, and everybody here knows that, or else they'll ask us questions... What's up with the hair?"

"Hey! The color red had to go somewhere!"

"Huh, so you like the color red?"

"Nope! I love to color blue!"

"Hahaha!" he laughed out loud all of a sudden

"What's so funny?"

"Now I know why you stared at my hair for so long! Hahaha! I thought that there was something wrong with my hair or something; you were completely entranced in it for 2 minutes!

"2 MINUTES?"

"Ahh, yea." He tilted his head up briefly and smiled at the sky. Oh goddesses. I mentally slap myself at my stupidity. Instead, I settled for blushing and I looked down. Ike cupped my chin, and made me look up at him.

"Hey, it's ok."

I meekly smiled at him, but then the smile disappeared.

"Oh! Shoot!" I transformed back into my regular self.

I swayed a bit instead of doing a sharp stop. Ike held me in place.

"Whoa there, alright, too much magic for you in one day!"

"Uh! Still need to use more! Gotta get back to the castle!"

He looked sad "Ok, hey, do you think you can fight with that magic? If you can, then you can help me fight with my sword, and we can duel each other!"

I smiled brightly "Sure."

He smiled back. "Tomorrow morning, before anyone gets up meet me in the outskirts of town!"

And I transported to my room, not even noon yet, and already, I couldn't wait until the next morning.


	4. Eyes Like Mine

**In case you failed to see this in the second chapter, I'm going to put this one more time: I knew that Ike was from Tellius, but in my story he grew up in Altea, later on, you'll see why I didn't want him to not be in Altea. :)But, thank you RawkHawk2.0 for pointing that out!**

**Eyes Like Mine**

We kept on training each morning, every day. Until that time of year came... I didn't tell Ike that I was leaving, I didn't have the heart to do it...but now I see that that decision was wrong. He would have been heartbroken-

NIEGH! (that was the horse, I didn't know how to write it, but you get what I mean!)

I woke up with a start. Sleep evaporated and I was on high alert. I looked to my left, and saw that Adelina was scared and it got jumpy as an effect.

"Shh, there, there, what is it?"

Adelina's head pointed forward, across the river. I gasped, there was a figure amongst the trees, I only saw red eyes, but now it's gone.

Instantly curious, and without a second thought, I got on my horse, and quickly leaped across the river, and entered into the dark forest. I waited for anything that would indicate where the figure would be. But the silence mocked me to no end. I waited a few more seconds, and got off my horse.

"Much better..." I sharply turned to my right, to see the same pair of red eyes. I took out my bow and arrow, and aimed for between the eyes, waiting for them to close and shut out completely. To my dismay, they closed, then reappeared somewhere above the trees.

"Missed me." he taunted

How dare he say that? Angered even more, I decided to play the same game as him. I took out my rose petals, and quickly turned into Sheik. Only when I am Sheik, I can use my red eyes, and see in the dark. I looked up towards to the trees, and saw the figure, it was a man.

"See you." I taunted back

The figure appeared to smirk, and quickly leaped out of the trees, and landed on me.

"Gotcha." his eyes were as bright red when he was using them like mine probably were at the moment, I was entranced, and kept on staring at him, until my horse made a whine in the distance, that snapped me out of it.

I kicked the figure in his stomach. Hard.

"OOF!"

And just for good measure on tackling me, I elbowed him in his stomach again. I stepped away from him.

"Why are you ambushing me?"

He made no remark, instead he came after me. I sprinted to my horse, adrenaline fueling me, and making me illusive to the man. I didn't care about the saddle positioned wrong, I only want to be as far away from this guy as possible. I grabbed some of the reins, and hoped that the guy was not going to keep on following me.

"HIYA!"

I kicked my horse to full speed, guiding it through the forest. I heard heavy breathing and footsteps behind me, but after a few minutes of full-out horse running, he got left behind with exhaustion and the pain that I brought on him, but his words still rung in my head.

"I'll be looking for you, and you won't escape from me!"

I kept on going non-stop to Altea.

**Thank you for the reviews that I got! I really appreciate it! :) **

**Ike: This chapter doesn't have me at all!**

**Me: Oh be quiet, you'll have your chance... **

**Ike: No, I-**

**Me: You have the right to remain silent!**

**Ike:...**

**Me: *smirks***

**Ike: *glares***


	5. The Dark of Night

The Dark of Night

Running away? Unbearable. From a complete stranger?Unbelievable. In the middle of the night and I don't even know where I'm going?! Inconcievable!

I mentally curse myself as I don't even know where I'm going. I've been looking behind several times and after a few minutes of riding, I've convinced myself I'm safe. For now. As Adelina comes to a stop completely, my adrenaline stops and my mind races to what just happened. What's going on? Why's he after me? Could it be that the council hired -? No…money? ...Either way, I mustn't let him get to me. Shaking my head, I steeled my resolve and was about to make Adelina move again, when I saw it.

A light not far up ahead. Several lights. Coming closer to me.

"…by the love of Nayru.." I immediately find a bush and a pair of trees that manage to hide Adelina and I and transform into Elocin with my cloak over my head. Several seconds tick by and I hear hooves. Not just a few hooves, but a lot of them. I look from behind the bush and see a horses, a dozen for sure, if not more. If it's not a supply carriage, what's the big deal of having so many people- is it just travelers? I look again and I suddenly see the Altean flag. An idea pops into my head as I hide again. What if I can follow them and whenever I see dark, fast and scary, I could yell at them and – no. That won't work. They'll surely think I'm an enemy if I randomly pop out of nowhere startling them like that pointing at my dark enemy like a maniac… . What if I were to say I'm a lost person, trying to find her way to Altea? Surely they won't-

"Whoa, there! What's this horse doing in the middle of the path?!" Path?! There's a path- wait! HORSE!? I look beside me and see Adelina's missing. This is just. My. Luck… Oh well, here goes everything.

Arms raised up and hood up, I cautiously get next to Adelina as I hear several clinks of metal swords being unsheathed. I pat Adelina as I look at the group, and my eyes widen to see them heavily shielded with weapons. This might be a bad idea. Still, no time to lose, I don't want them looking at me as the enemy anymore. Converting myself into my polite self, I speak.

"I seem to be lost tonight. Might I ride with you to Altea? I promise to not cause any harm. I'll go my separate way when we reach there." This causes several men to look at one particular one in the front of the group, to who I can assume is the one in charge. He replies.

"I'm sorry to tell you that we cannot condone this-"

"Why have we stopped?" A new voice broke in the conversation and all heads turned back to a new horse and its rider slowly coming up next to the one in charge. Suddenly, I seem to think now that the newcomer is the one in charge. He seems to have quite a bigger effect to the second in charge as his face turns an unbecoming shade of red as he stutters. His words barely registers through my head though, as I feel that I'm being watched…by _him._

"W-we were kindly telling this lady that w-we cannot possibly assist her i-in t-this late hour because of our strict ord-" He gets silenced effectively by the man's attention switching to me and a slight raise of his right hand. This isn't going the way I want it to be going now that he's looking at me, probably seeing if my attire holds any weapons of the sort. I was about to lift my cape to assure him better, when the guards lifted their swords and pointed them directly at me. I got the hint that they didn't want me moving. Adelina didn't like this and started whining and going back, I whispered to her in old Hylian to calm her down, and she did just that.

"No! Your Highness, don't! She might be a spy, or an assassin!" I turn my head around and my eyes get wide in surprise as the apparent royalty in the group comes close to me and my horse.

The guard moves his horse to us "I can't let you-" the royal man quiets him again, this time speaking again in a harsher tone.

"I can take care of myself. There's no need…" He looks at me closely "I believe your swords are scaring her and her horse, let them down."

"Your Highness-"

"Sheathe your swords." His words were clear and precise, seeming to cut through the man's resolve as he sheathed his sword and the others followed suit. The words came out of my mouth before I had time to think about it, which was not me at all as I stared at the royal man.

"Thank you, Your Highness-" I got cut by his gesture of the hand.

"It's alright, no need. You may get on your horse…" He paused, looking at me.

"Elocin."

"Elocin." He says back, granting me permission. I do exactly that and get on Adelina, feeling her getting relaxed as I lay my palm on her neck and pat her. I look up and see the royal man and can tell that he has blue hair and dark eyes, but the moonlight doesn't give away more than that. If I were Sheik, I could see everything I mused to myself as I looked away from the royal man and to the direction of where they seem to be going to Altea. That's when it clicked.

"She rides with us." Is what I hear next and then the man that was beside me goes back into the pack and the second in command, which is I conclude to be the commander guard takes place beside me.

"No funny business, you take the same stride as us and I always want to see your hands. If you seem even for a second to break those two rules, we will see to it that you're not a threat to the prince." Prince huh? I nod my head and do as he told me. My realization makes more sense...

"Move on!" the guard in command tells to the others. As a group, they all seem to stride as one and I have Adelina take the same one, not wanting to find out what the guard meant to an extent that I won't be a threat to the prince. It clicked in my brain awhile ago… Prince Marth. I've heard about him...his kingdom was usurped, and as he fought his way, he made new allies, and brought his kingdom back up again. I let my mind wander around to how the prince concluded that I wasn't a danger. I had a cloak, it was dark, I halted their journey, and I didn't give them a very good explanation. The odds were against me. So…why did he let me come and risk his safety?

I began hearing to their conversation.

"Finally."

"You know, I thought she would've killed him!"

"She should be watched."

"I don't think she's an ordinary female."

"She could've killed me when I stepped away from you guys, so if I'm still alive, she's not a threat!" the prince broke the fired up guards discussion about me.

I lightly smile, and out of instinct sharply look to my right. Red pair of eyes are looking back at me. I shiver, and keep on going forward. I knew it.

**I'm so sorry guys! I completely forgot my email password, and I thought I could never access this story again! But I'm so happy now!**

**I can continue writing this! I'm so SORRY for the wait! . I feel horrible for making you guys wait, but don't worry, I wrote**

**my passwords down, so it'll never happen again!**

**Marth: Hopefully it won't. I felt lonely...**

**Ike: I thought you forgot me!**

**Me: oh! Never! Don't worry! I won't forget! Hey, did you know-**

**Marth & Ike- yes, we're an upcoming game for the WiiU :) **


	6. Midnight Run

Midnight Run

I can feel his stare throughout the journey to Altea. This isn't good at all.

"What's your business in Altea?"

I look to my left and see the commander looking at me questioningly, silently resisting the urge to flee from this predicament, I answer.

"I am visiting a friend of mine." The commander nods and then quickly stares at me.

"You're not going to bring trouble onto Altea are you?" I look back at him quizzically. Trouble?

"I am not a thief or murderer if that's what you're aski-" A sudden movement to the right catches my eye, and I instinctly look to that direction…and see nothing

"There's animals roaming in that forest, though they never wander out of there. Don't mind it actually, it saves a lot of trouble-" The commander's horse stops short, ears bent towards the woods. "What is it?" The commander looks at the woods too, "What is that?!" he looks at me, I look at the woods and see a flicker of red eyes.

An arrow flies out of the forest, and hits the commander squarely on his chest, no warning whatsoever as a thump marks the fall of the commander from his horse. Immediately, swords are drawn and everyone is looking at the forest, waiting for the next move.

A rustle, a small sound, a deep resonating dark note as I recognize coming from a bow and arrow, and I act. Instincts taking place, I grab my cloth and throw it in the general direction of a guard. The arrow hits my bundle of cloth and softly hits against the armor of the targeted guard. The guard looks at me, eyes wide and unbelieving.

Knowing that he'll continue hurting these men if I stay here any longer, I make Adelina sprint towards the general direction of Altea. The cold air slashes and whips at my face, making it sting. I hear a faint sound of hooves. I look back, and see he took the commander's horse, disbelief first comes through me, but then I get determined.

I make Adelina go faster, hoping to outrun him. Suddenly, I feel a tug at my clothing. I look back and horror goes through my face. It's him, and he's next to me.

"Give it up, I've been searching for you far too long." Questions pop up in my head as he says this. Far too long? Has he been watching me for a long time? I shudder at the thought, and slap his hand away.

"No way, I don't give up that easily."

He smirked as he replied coyly "One way or another, you'll be mine."

Creeped out, I push him away. But he holds his balance on the commander's horse.

"And you can't get rid of me that easily!" As if to prove his point, he jumps onto Adelina and firmly holds me against him. Panicked at how effortlessly he did that, I noticed I'm not dealing with an amateur. Our horses are going way too fast for even a trained professional to jump like that and not lose their balance.

"Who are you?!" I get no reply as I hear another dull note reverberate through the air, this time, it hits again, but no thump is heard. I swerve around and see Prince Marth holding a bow and arrow, on his horse, gaining on us.

I look towards my right and see the arrow has hit the man's back and he's riding back on. Concerned, I almost came over and stopped this whole predicament I got myself into. But I don't. He's uncharted territory. I don't know what he wants. But it has something to do with me. And I don't like it. I decide that until he has given me a reason not to, I am calling him my enemy.

With this new resolve and realization, I close my eyes and concentrate on the ground next to me, and imagine it explode in tiny puffs, not enough to hurt the horse, but to scare it. Bearing the image in mind, I give my magic a push and I hear a small pop of flames, and the commander's horse neighing protestingly. I hear him grunt in frustration and soon enough, I don't hear hooves anymore. I open my eyes and see the horse has stopped, and the rider gone in the darkness.

In disbelief he has disappeared so fast, I stop Adelina and listen for him. But I hear nothing except for hooves from the prince's horse. He's holding the commander's horse reins and looks at me with an expression on his face that I can't quite place.

Immediately, I remember I used my magic in front of the prince. Thoughts race around my head. Should I tell him? Maybe I should convince him he saw something? I could have thrown Deku Nuts- yes! Deku Nuts!

"Those were Deku Nuts, if you were wondering." The prince looks at me perplexed.

"Deku…Nuts?" he says, mouth trying the term for the first time.

"Yes, they explode when thrown." His eyes widen, apparently he hasn't seen them before.

"I implore you to let me have a look later." Later? "But first, tell me: have you met that man before? And where did he run off to?"

Honestly, I reply to him "Of course. And I've only seen him once, and I didn't like meeting him one bit. From the start, he has taken a liking to following me "for far too long" he said. I don't know where he disappeared to, but one way or another, I'll find out." A bit frustrated that came out so fluidly, I remember that he helped me. I look at him gratefully "Thank you for helping me, I didn't know what to do, it was terrible!"

Nodding, he agreed with me "This hasn't ever happened. He didn't seem to want our cargo or the crown. He wanted something to do with you." He looks at me and repeats what I said "But one way or another, I'll find out." He looks at me, promising "Is that ok? May I help you?"

Heart beating, I've never expected him to say that, he's offering help? I look back at the fire-burned grass, and decide it's for the best. I need information regarding to if other kingdoms have seen him and know what he has been after. I look back at the prince and see he's waiting for my response. "Yes, I would think I need your help. Thank you for offering." I smile at him, grateful again "You've been very kind to me, I hope I can reciprocate when I figure everything out."

He blinks and smally smiles and nods back at me. "We will, and soon enough, we will have the answers."

Knowing that all of this isn't just up to me, I relax visibly. The weight isn't as apparent as before. Hopeful that I may know who he is and what he wants, I look back to Altea and the prince, then look back and see his guards have already caught up to us. Surprised they moved so quickly and quietly, I look back at the prince and see that he is now talking to one of the guards, and they look at Altea then at me.

Caught staring at them, I look away, and I hear the prince's voice next to me.

"Shall we continue onto Altea?"

Nodding, I have Adelina go on a steady pace. My enemy's prescence no longer intruding my thoughts. For now.


End file.
